A Harvest Carol
by nld200xy
Summary: It's Harvest Time but Candy can't seem to get into the Harvest Spirit. Rather than being nice to others, she's only thinking of herself. But on Harvest Eve, 3 spirits arrive to show her the error of her ways. Can they change her for the better?


A Harvest Carol

Disclaimer: I do not own Dave the Barbarian or any of its characters.

It is a fine day in the city of Udrogoth as it is that wonderful time of year, Harvest Time. Around this time, many peasants and barbarians get together to spend time with their families or some mushy garbage like that. Feasts are held, families bond, but most importantly, the shops are booming in business for you see, Harvest Time is also the time for blatant commercialism.

The most successful merchant in Udrogoth was none other than Ms. Bogmelon, an old lady who seemed to for some reason have everything. Why? Well, why should I know that!? I'm just a narrator, for goodness' sake!

As our story begins, the town's princess, Candy, was busy doing some heavy shopping today as she stepped into Ms. Bogmelon's shop. The old lady smiled widely and held the princess' hand shouting, "Well, if it isn't my favorite customer!"

As Candy was pulled into the shop against her will, the old lady started sorting out her merchandise asking, "So, what is it you're looking for?"

Candy thought a bit and replied, "Well..." as the old lady held up her finger and replied, "We got that," digging through a few boxes before pulling out a scorpion while explaining, "What better to lighten up Harvest Eve than with a nice scorpion?"

The princess blinked before opening her mouth to object, Ms. Bogmelon once again cutting her off and saying, "We got that," this time pulling out a sticky green ball while wearing gloves so not to get her hands dirty.

Candy looked at the odd green substance before her and poked it, putting on an 'Ugh' expression before asking, "What the heck is this supposed to be?"

"Why, it's none other than a ball of mucus!" the old lady replied as Candy's cheeks puffed up, the girl turning away while shouting, "GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!!!!"

As the old lady put it away, Candy sighed with relief saying, "All I want is a cute top to go with all my other cute tops. Is that too much to ask?"

Ms. Bogmelon shrugged and pulled out a rather simple top. Candy blinked and said, "This really isn't that cute."

"But it's got a star on it!" the old lady replied, pointing at a dark green star on the front as Candy asked, "Is that made of mucus?" the old lady nodding and holding out her hand saying, "That'll be 40 drekels."

The princess shrugged and handed the old merchant some of her gold coins before walking off. She was just barely out the door when a young boy holding a small cup stepped in front of her.

Candy blinked and asked, "What do you want, kid?" as the boy held up his cup explaining in a pathetic voice, "I'm collecting funds to help the orphanage so the little boys and girls can have a nice Harvest Time this year. Would you be so kind as to make a donation?"

Candy grimaced at the sound of that before retorting, "Chyeh! Do I look like someone who wants to give her money to a bunch of starving kids!?"

"CANDY!!!" came a voice from behind her as the large muscular boy who had said that reached into his pocket, pulling out three drekels, handing the kid the coins saying, "This is for the orphans."

The kid happily walked off, a devious smirk on his face as he whispered to himself, "I can't believe the sucker bought that!" while the large boy, namely Dave, turned to Candy, who was his sister, and snapped, "That poor boy needed your support and you just turned him down! MAN, you're selfish!"

"Am not!" Candy remarked as Dave pointed to the top she was carrying while asking, "Then who is that for?"

Candy looked at the cute top and whistled innocently, Dave sighing before holding up a big shopping sack stating, "If it means anything to you, I bought you a Harvest present."

"Oh, gimme!" the princess shouted, reaching for the sack as Dave simply pushed her back, his massive strength easily overpowering her desires while saying, "You have to wait until Harvest Day like everyone else!"

"But that's not fair!" Candy snapped as Dave's talking sword, Lula, who was always strapped to his back remarked, "Hey, you think you got problems? Dave's taking me to go carolling with him later. Ugh, I hate it more every time."

"Hey, I can hear that, you know," Dave replied as Lula asked, "What's your point?"

As Dave walked away with his shopping sack full of Harvest presents, Candy simply rolled her eyes and carried on. As the day went by, she noticed all the peasants getting into the harvest spirit, showing love and compassion towards one-another. There were kids helping old people avoid being hit by speeding wagons and peasants giving the less fortunate peasants some of their hard-earned cash. Even the dogs and cats of Udrogoth were getting along.

But Candy, oh no, she looked at this and screamed to the heavens, "WHY AM I THE ONLY NORMAL ONE IN THIS KINGDOM!!!!??"

What Candy didn't understand was a little thing called Harvest Spirit. See, Candy was a very selfish girl who only cared about what she wanted and what she liked. She never considered the feelings of others because she was too busy being a snob to do so. Why, if I was her, I'd repent for my acts and...

"Alright, I get it!" Candy snapped. Okay, geez, I was just saying, you know. No need to bark in my face like that. It's Harvest Time, for goodness' sake!

The princess let out a sigh before looking down to notice a pig wearing a cape before her. She started to panic shouting, "It's the dark lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy!"

Chuckles laughed in response to that exclaiming, "Oh, that reaction was priceless! Did you honestly think I was going to attack you!?"

"Well, yeah, you do that to us all the time," Candy remarked, "You are kind of evil, you know."

"Well, yeah, I am pretty evil," the pig replied with a grin before turning back to the princess saying, "But since it's the Harvest season, I'm pretty much on holiday. Tis the season to be respectful, after all."

With that, the pig reached into the back of his cape mysteriously pulling a box wrapped in paper and topped with a bow on out from under it saying, "I made this for you."

Candy blinked, eyeing the box suspiciously asking, "Is this going to blow up in my face when I open it or something?"

"Oh, please, I'll get back to that kind of thing after the holidays!" Chuckles replied as Candy shrugged, reaching for the bow as the pig snatched it from her shouting, "Hey, opening a Harvest present before Harvest Day is very rude! Just for that, I'm giving it to that miserable Dave the Barbarian so he can make sure you keep your mitts off of it!"

As the dark lord walked off into the distance, Candy groaned and walked back towards the castle. She'd had enough excitement for one day. She just wanted to be back with her loving family, people who truly respected her for who she was.

"Everyone, I'm home!" the girl shouted upon opening the door only to see that everyone was too busy for her.

Fang, the younger sister of the family, had helped gather meat for the Harvest Dinner that was to be had tomorrow and currently, she was helping with mashing some of it into ground beef. As she smashed at it with cheer, she turned to the audience and said, "This job was made for me," before returning to her work.

The wizard of the family, an old uncle named Oswidge was helping to decorate the Harvest bush. Assisting him was the family's pet dragon, Faffy.

"It's almost perfect," Oswidge said upon looking at all the ornaments, "but something's missing."

Faffy's stomach started to churn as he hacked up a string of Harvest lights, the lights surrounding the bush and shining brightly, the old wizard saying, "Nope, that's not it."

He then noticed the top of the bush and snapped his fingers exclaiming, "That's it, it needs a star!" but as he reached down to grab one, he realized that they were out of ornaments.

The wizard shrugged and pulled out his magic wand saying, "I'll simply conjure us up a star," shooting magic at the bush only to end up lighting it on fire, the man glaring at his wand saying, "Darn thing's on the fritz again."

Faffy quickly pulled out a large pail of water, splashing it all over the tree while also hitting Oswidge in the face with some of it. The wizard glared, spitting a fish out of his mouth as Faffy smiled stupidly at his handiwork.

The thing that shocked Candy the most was the sight of Chuckles in the castle handing Dave his present along with hers. It was just as the dark lord had said. He was trusting Dave to take care of it.

"You know, Chuckles, it's rather nice seeing you getting into the Harvest spirit," Dave said with a grin, then noticing Candy and glaring at her while shouting, "Unlike some people!"

Candy simply let out a loud moan, heading upstairs to her room while Dave asked, "Was I too harsh?" Lula shaking her sword guard (head) while saying, "No, David, she deserved it."

Chuckles simply looked at the scene saying, "What I find hard to believe is that the monkey has more holiday spirit than she does," Fang retorting, "NOT A MONKEY!!!!"

Dave shrugged, turning back to the dark pig and asked, "Say, Chuckles, we're low on guests this year and I was wondering if maybe you could join us," Chuckles pondering this while saying, "Well, alright, but I'm not eating any of your pork sausages no matter how hard you work on them."

Candy slumped down on her elegant fancy bed, burying her face in her pillow. She just didn't understand why everyone was acting like this. She was a princess. Why should she have to do things for others?

As the princess continued to lie on her bed, Dave was in the middle of making a fruit cake, you know, those healthy Christmas treats that no one likes. Dave was putting the finishing touches on it with a smile on his face as Fang rolled her eyes, slapping her forehead. She hated when Dave didn't act in the least bit barbarian-like, but around Harvest Time, she couldn't really get after him for it.

However, this Harvest Time was not exactly the happiest time for her as their parents were still off trying to defeat all the evil in the world. Fang missed them dearly. But this tidbit has nothing to do with our main plot, so let's go back to Candy's pathetic sob story.

Candy needed so desperately to clear her mind at this moment and was willing to do anything to make that happen. Perhaps if she waited, people would start accepting who she was again. After all, why should a princess have to be nice to others?

After a little while, Candy grew bored of waiting as her eyelids started to lower, the princess drifting off into a deep sleep. Hey, maybe a nap would do her some good. But that would have to wait as her eyes soon shot open when she felt something leap onto her bed.

She grunted in pain, noticing Fang standing on her bed, but something was different. Rather than the usual orange caveman outfit Fang always wore, she was wearing a white caveman outfit. Meanwhile, the bone keeping her ponytail in place had a pair of ornaments hanging down from each side, one red and the other green.

"Fang, I was trying to take a nap!" the princess spat as Fang poked her older sister in the nose saying, "Well, you'd better be awake for this, because this is important!"

Candy blinked as Fang sighed, explaining, "Look, I'm not Fang, alright!?"

"Well, if you're not Fang, then why do you look like her?" Candy remarked as the girl sighed, explaining, "I am a spirit in the form of your younger sister!"

"Oh, a spirit in the form of my sister," Candy remarked with a bored tone of voice, "How very uninspired."

"That doesn't matter!" the ghost remarked, glaring into Candy's eyes while stating, "Today, you will be visited by three other spirits, each one also resembling a family member."

Candy sighed and retorted, "Could this story get any MORE unoriginal?" as the ghost shook her head saying, "You'd better be wide awake for this, because this is all being done to teach you the error of your ways."

"Error of MY ways!?" Candy remarked, "I've done nothing wrong! It's all the citizens of Udrogoth! They keep expecting me to do stuff for them!"

The ghost that resembled Fang shook her head in disappointment, vanishing from site as Candy simply rubbed her eyes, shrugging after figuring that must have been some kind of hallucination and went back to her nap. However, her sleep was once again short-lived when something crashed through her roof, landing in front of her.

Candy groaned, her eyes once again shooting open as she spat, "WHAT NOW!!!!??" shocked to see the man standing before her very eyes. Why, it was none other than King Throktar, Candy, Dave and Fang's father who had left the kingdom long ago to battle evil all across the world.

"DAD, YOU'RE HOME!!!" the princess shouted, excitedly getting up from her bed while asking, "Where's mom?"

The muscular man shook his head and replied, "I am not your father, Candy. I am but a spirit in the form of your father! I am the ghost of Harvest Past!"

"Yawn!" Candy retorted, sighing, "I don't see why I'M the one being haunted anyway!"

"Listen to your father, Candy!" the ghost retorted as the princess blinked, barking, "You're not my real father!"

The ghost had to admit, she had him there. Nevertheless, he was not ready to give up on his quest to change her ways, though I personally think he has a better chance of convincing Fang to stop stomping on bugs.

The ghost immediately grabbed Candy's arm as the girl spat, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the ghost taking to the skies, blasting another hole through the roof saying, "I'm going to show you a little bit of your past that you may have forgotten!"

"Look, if this is about me breaking your favorite vase when I was 8, I swear, Dave set me up to it," Candy pleaded while the ghost rolled his eyes, the two landing in front of the window to the castle. The princess simply stared at the man asking, "If we were going to the castle anyway, why did you bother flying me all the way here?"

The ghost pondered this and said, "Well, you see, I... uh... shut up, alright?"

With that, the ghost pointed toward the scene through the castle window. Candy couldn't believe her eyes. Not only was the castle more run-down, but everyone was younger. Dave was six years old and Oswidge still had hair. To make things even better, King Throktar and Queen Glimia were still there. Most of all, Candy was present there and seven years of age. Since this was ten years ago, Fang had not yet been born.

"Aw, I still looked cute when I was younger," Candy squealed while the ghost nodded and said, "Watch this scene and tell me what you see."

Ironically, this was during the Harvest season. The kids were nuzzled up on the couch next to Throktar who was reading them Harvest stories while Glimia was busy preparing the Harvest pudding.

"And then the Harvest Hog delivered presents all around the world and the kids were very happy," Throktar said, closing up the book while Dave and Candy cheered like the naive kids they were.

"Well, okay, I was dumb enough to believe in the Harvest Hog back then," Candy stated, folding her arms, "So what? Every kid was like that. Dave still believes in him."

"We're not there yet!" the ghost retorted while the scene continued.

"Daddy, can I help mom make the pudding?" Dave asked as Throktar rubbed his son's head saying, "Sure you can, Dave."

Lula, who was strapped to Throktar's side at the time, sighed and said, "If you keep encouraging this behaviour, Dave's never gonna grow up to be a barbarian."

"That's nonsense, Lula," the man replied as Dave started prancing around the kitchen for ingredients, Glimia smiling while shaking her head.

"Yeah, it sucks you didn't listen to her advice," Candy said as the ghost sighed, "I know, right?"

Oswidge entered the room seconds later, showing off his head of hair while posing for random cameramen, no one questioning the logic behind cameramen even being there in the first place. He pulled out a large sack with wrapped up boxes in it, his eyes shifting back and forth when Candy spotted him hauling the bag.

"Daddy, look, it's the presents given to us by everyone in the kingdom!" she shouted as Oswidge groaned, "It gets harder every year to hide these from them."

Dave had just finished baking the pudding when he heard the word "presents", the two kids running over to Oswidge with excitement in their eyes. Throktar and Glimia both laughed, the queen smiling while saying, "Okay, kids, remember, it's still Harvest Eve. You can each open two presents and that's it."

"I still wish Dad hadn't abolished that rule," Candy said while the ghost covered her mouth saying, "Watch closely."

Dave pulled out two particular boxes and handed each one to Throktar and Glimia saying, "I made these for you!"

The two laughed and opened their gifts, surprised by what they had received. Dave had knitted Glimia a wonderful new violet gown like the ones only rich people can afford. Meanwhile, the boy had made for Throktar a big picture frame from logs to put up any painting he wanted.

Throktar pulled out his box of paintings and pulled out the one of him slaying a two-headed dragon, inserting it into the frame before giving his son a big hug. With that, the two kids opened up their presents from the parents. For Dave, a handbook on building things with wood along with a new sewing machine and for Candy, two new cute tops to go with all her other ones.

"Wow, a sewing machine!" Dave exclaimed as Throktar patted the boy on the head saying, "It's the first one ever invented," Lula rolling her eyes and saying, "I'm telling you, you're pushing it."

"Oh, relax Lula," Throktar replied, "This is but a phase. I'm sure he'll grow out of it."

The ghost slapped his forehead while Candy blinked at him saying, "So far, all this flashback is doing is showing where you went wrong as a father."

But she continued watching anyway as Throktar turned to her younger self asking, "So, Candy, do you have any presents for us?"

Candy laughed loudly in response to this. The laughter lasted quite a few seconds as she exclaimed, "Good one, Daddy! Everyone knows princesses don't have to give people presents! I'm gonna go try on my new tops now!"

Then with that, she skipped up the stairs as Throktar shrugged, the ghost noticing Candy's clueless expression. The spirit knocked on her head before shouting, "Did you see that!?"

"Yeah, I have eyes, you know!" Candy retorted, "I had the right idea then too."

"No, the point is that you were being a spoiled brat!" the ghost retorted before slapping his forehead shouting, "This vision is over!"

With that, he threw Candy through the window as she conveniently landed on her bed. The princess simply blinked and asked, "What was his problem?"

However, she refused to go back to sleep now knowing that another ghost would simply wake her up. Instead, she had to be prepared for this next one. With that in mind, she took extra precautions to prepare for the next ghost's visit. She worked a whole five minutes and came up with the ultimate trap: a coat rack!

Candy heard a sound as her eyes shifted back and forth, her coat rack poised to strike the next person who dared enter her room without knocking. However, she was shocked when a hand came from behind, snatching the coat rack from her while the girl screamed, grabbing the arm and hurling the intruder into the wall. She soon saw that the one who had snuck up on her was Dave.

"Dave, what are you doing here?" Candy asked as the boy slowly rose to his feet asking, "Why did you even need the coat rack WHEN YOU KNOW TAICHI!!!!??"

Candy placed her finger against her chin saying, "Now that you mention it..." Dave sighing and stating, "I'm not really Dave. I'm just..."

"A ghost in the form of Dave?" Candy interrupted, "Yeah, I've seen two of you guys already."

The ghost blinked before clearing his throat and saying, "Anyway, I am the ghost of Harvest Present!"

Candy saw him pulling out a bag and asked with glee, "Did you say present!?"

Candy leapt for the bag as Dave pulled it away, the girl flying into a wall grunting, "I'm okay..." while Dave sighed, "I meant present as in current time."

Candy recovered from her painful state rather quickly then proceeded to ask, "What's the point of you being here? I already know what's happening right now."

"Oh, do you?" the ghost asked as Candy replied, "Yuh-huh!" the ghost glaring at her shouting, "Nuh-uh!" the two trading the words back and forth for half a minute before the ghost finally realized the conversation was getting nowhere before exclaiming, "That's enough! I'm going to show you what's going on with your family right now!"

With that said, the ghost pulled out a box as Candy pointed at it shouting, "I knew it!" the spirit frowning while saying, "Okay, so I brought a present with me, but it's not that kind of present."

With that, the ghost pulled off the ribbon as the box fell open, all sides falling flat on the floor. Candy frowned saying, "Hey, there's nothing in this," the ghost pointing down towards it as a hole appeared. Within the hole was an image of the family.

Currently, Fang had finished putting up Christmas decorations with her monkey-like skills, Oswidge had finally figured out the spell to conjure up a star for the Harvest Bush, Faffy had basically done nothing and Dave had finished preparing the night's gourmet meal.

"Here's to a job well done," the boy said, clapping his hands together as Candy watched the scene, turned to the ghost and said, "Look at that. They didn't even need my help."

"Nonetheless, you should have done something," the ghost remarked, folding his arms while Candy narrowed her eyelids saying, "There's a spider on your neck," the ghost panicking while picking at the back of his neck screaming, "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! SPIDER!!!!! GET IT OFF ME, GET IT OFF ME!!!!"

While the ghost continued to panic, Candy decided she may as well continue watching while Fang sighed with relief saying, "I'm pooped."

"I'll say," Oswidge said, plopping down on a chair, "Going through the trouble to bring out that spell book was hard work."

"Yeah, it's a shame a certain someone in this castle doesn't know what that feels like," Lula stated as Dave folded his arms saying, "Yeah, someone needs to teach Candy a little thing about responsibility."

Candy gasped upon hearing this saying, "Well, it's not my fault I'm a princess."

"I love Candy as a sister, but she needs to start pulling her weight around here more," Dave continued as Fang spat, "Good luck! That girl's never going to change her attitude!"

"Well, I shouldn't have to!" Candy remarked, holding her hands against her hips as the ghost glared at her shouting, "That was not a spider! It was a piece of string!"

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Candy said sarcastically as the ghost closed up the box saying, "You really are selfish, you know that?"

"I am not!" Candy remarked, "I have just about as much Harvest spirit as anyone!"

"You wouldn't know the first thing about Harvest spirit," the ghost remarked as Candy glared shouting, "I would too!"

"Well, then, what is Harvest Spirit?" the ghost asked as Candy stood there silent. The truth was the ghost was right. Candy didn't understand a thing about the Harvest spirit.

"Oh, poor, poor Candy," the ghost said, shaking his head, "Allow me to shed some light on this concept for you."

With that, the sound of music started to fill the air as Candy's eyes shifted back and forth, the princess asking, "Um... what's with the music?"

"All Christmas specials have songs in them," the ghost replied as Candy simply said, "Oh."

With that, the ghost started to dance around while singing, "You don't seem to understand what the Harvest spirit means. While everyone shows love and joy, your soul isn't clean."

With that, he started to twirl, switching to the outfit worn by the Harvest Hog told of in stories while he continued, "You think the whole world only revolves around you, and you sit around all day and you're rude to people too."

Candy was about to object when the ghost opened up a window, pulling on the princess' arm as he took to the skies while adding, "The spirit of Harvest Time, it comes from straight within. Where your problems lie right now, do I even need to begin?"

Candy let out a sigh and sang her own little verse that went a little something like this: "I don't have any problems; it's all you stupid ghosts. You don't seem to realize it's me who matters most! I have just as much Harvest Spirit as anyone, you'll see! No one here can possibly show more spirit than me!"

The ghost shrugged as the two landed on a pool of ice, skates appearing on the ghost as he skated around, twirling like a ballerina while singing, "Would you help an old man if he fell down on this ice? Of course you of all people wouldn't, that would just be too nice."

"Well, I don't see why I should have to help that dumb old man," Candy remarked, "It's not my fault he tried to skate, he should have had a safer plan."

The spirit sighed and changed the location to a toy store asking, "Would you go out of your way to buy the kids some toys? I'm sure they'd love it very much, all the little girls and boys."

"Why should I have to spend my money on all those little snots," Candy remarked, "If I don't have money of my own, then what the heck have I got?"

The ghost sighed, shook his head and warped the two back to their room while singing, "It seems you still don't understand the spirit of Harvest Time. I must say, it's been rather hard making this song rhyme. Heck, some of these lines just sound the same, they don't even count. Well, whether the readers care or not I seriously doubt."

Candy blinked as the ghost opened up the window once more singing, "If you're not going to listen, if you won't care at all, I see no reason to stay here in winter or in fall."

With that, he took his leave while Candy sighed, slumping back down on her bed saying, "I don't get it. I'm the most important person in this kingdom! Can't these spirits just leave me alone?"

Candy's eyes went wide as she heard the sound of cracking. She peered down the side of her bed and noticed cracks forming as soon enough, the floor below her burst open, Candy's bed falling down into a dark abyss.

Candy screamed in fear, but soon stopped to look at her surroundings asking, "Wait, since when does our castle have a bottomless pit?"

With that, her trip came to a screeching halt, her eyes wide open as she found herself at a cemetery. The girl started to tremble with fear now, unsure of what would happen next.

Her eyes went even wider when lightning struck a single tombstone, smoke forming as a dark image appeared within the cloud. Candy's teeth chattered as a cloaked figure emerged from the smoke, red eyes glaring down at her but no arms coming from the sleeves.

Candy gulped, took a deep breath and asked, "Are you the ghost of Harvest To Be?"

The cloaked figure responded with a series of odd sound effects that Candy recognized as Draconian, the princess tilting her head to the side asking, "Is that Faffy underneath?"

The cloaked figure propped a pair of yellow arms out from under the sleeves, pulling up the hood to reveal the small yellow potato dragon underneath shouting, "HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

Candy was just as confused about this as I am. I mean, I know this spirit isn't supposed to talk, but Faffy? He's an idiot. Oh well, we may as well continue with the story anyway.

The ghost placed his hood back on as Candy sighed before asking, "What is it you wish to show me?"

The ghost pointed a yellow finger towards a tombstone with Candy's name on it. Candy looked at the date written on it and gasped, "I'm going to die on Harvest Day!? What is this, some kind of cruel joke?"

The ghost shrugged and waved his cloak across the screen, the scenery changing to a world without the princess. Candy looked at all of the people going about their everyday lives as everybody seemed... happier.

Some kids were dancing around chanting, "The witch is dead! The witch is dead!" while a couple of men playing chess with each other were saying things like "So that selfish brat is finally dead," and "This totally makes up for my wife not getting me a Harvest present this year."

Candy looked at this sight and asked, "Am I really that bad of a person?"

The ghost stuck out his tongue and nodded as Candy glared and demanded, "Show me how my family's taking it!"

The ghost glared at her as she sighed and struggled, letting out a weak, "Please?"

The spirit nodded, warping her to the castle. Candy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Oswidge had his full head of hair back and had a ton of women by his side.

"Oh, come on!" the princess spat, "What does that have to do with me!?"

The spirit shrugged and sent her to her old room where Fang was busy destroying all of her stuff shouting, "Take that, you spoiled brat!"

The sight of her cute tops being torn to bits was more than Candy could bear, but this vision wasn't over yet. It would only get far worse from here.

When the spirit took Candy to the throne room, the girl was in absolute shock. Dave was on her throne, taking her place as the kingdom's ruler.

The boy just sat there saying, "You know, it feels so different without Candy around."

"I know what you mean," Lula replied, "It's slightly more peaceful around here," as Dave nodded saying, "I miss her, but not as much as I thought I would."

Candy's jaw dropped at the sound of that. Dave had never said such a horrible thing about anyone before, not even his enemies. He was usually too nice for that.

The spirit warped Candy out of the castle as Candy's eyes went even wider at the sight of her best friends, Dinky and Cheezette shopping without Candy around, seeming to enjoy themselves more than when Candy was there.

The girl sat down on a rock and sighed, "I really am a horrible person, aren't I?"

The ghost nodded while the princess looked down and said, "Everyone's so much happier without me. Well, what jerks!"

The spirit slapped his forehead as Candy spat, "If this is the way they feel about me, then maybe I should just let myself die! They'll soon learn that I should have had their undying respect from the start! I mean, Dave was the king once before and he messed things up."

The ghost then tapped Candy on the shoulder, pointing at Ms. Bogmelon's store, Candy absolutely horror-struck by what she saw. This other girl was being swindled out of her money much like Candy used to be. Could it be? Did Ms. Bogmelon have a new best customer?

"NOOOOOO!!!!!" Candy screamed at the top of her lungs, falling to the ground on her hands and knees shouting, "Please, spirit, give me a second chance! I can change my ways and become a nicer person! I now know that the spirit of Harvest Time isn't just giving me what I want! Everyone else is almost as important as I am!"

Much to her dismay, the ground opened up as hands starting pulling on her legs, the ghost giving her a cold stare as she sighed, "Alright, everyone else is just as important as me..." then seeing the spirit raise an eyebrow, she added, "If not more."

With that, the spirit gave the girl thumbs up, the hands vanishing and the hold patching itself up. The princess then found herself back in her room, still lying on her bed as her eyes opened slowly.

She looked around the room to see everything still intact. There was no hole in the ceiling and the window was closed just like it had been before. It was only an hour since she had started to nap as she sighed with relief. It had all been a dream.

Nevertheless, even to my surprise, Candy hadn't forgotten what she had learned from the dream, and she was going to set everything right. The other family members stared at Candy as she entered the room and sighed, "Look, guys, I'm sorry I didn't help you set up for the Harvest Day celebration, and I'm sorry I've been such a selfish jerk to you all."

The others just stared as Dave started to panic, jumping behind the couch while shouting, "SOME EVIL DEMON HAS REPLACED CANDY!!!!!"

"Let me bash it in the head!" Fang exclaimed as Candy laughed and said, "No, guys, that's not it at all."

"So, why the sudden change of heart?" Lula asked as the princess explained, "Well, it's a long story, but..." as Oswidge said, "I'm not interested then," the others deciding to accept this sudden change of personality.

And from that moment on, well, at least for the rest of the Harvest season, Candy started doing nicer things for the public... well, as nice as she felt nice was. She started caring a little bit more about her family, even ordering Dave around less than usual, but that wasn't exactly saying much. She also decided to join Dave for his ever-so-annoying Harvest Carols, which for some reason people seemed to enjoy around this season. She also bought her family some Harvest presents. They weren't exactly good presents, but the thought was there. And most surprising of all, Candy even donated some of her old cute tops to charity, but naturally, they were the ones she didn't much care for anymore.

All in all, I can't really say Candy completely changed for the better, but at the very least, she did have some of that Harvest spirit inside of her. And with that, our story comes to a close and I wish you all a Happy Holiday.


End file.
